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Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt is a civilization that lasted from around 3000 BC to 30 BC. It is one of the early civilizations featured in The Fertile Valleys. The Nile: An Indomitable River? Without the river Nile, Egyptian civilization would not have known the same destiny… More than 3700 miles (6000 kilometers) long, the Nile, along with the Amazon River, is one of the largest rivers in the world. In ancient times, it is essential for the Egyptians to obtain water and move around, and the population worships it under the name of Hapy, represented as a baboon-headed man with drooping breasts and a plump belly. However, the river is not always predictable. Its level rises every year for several months before dropping again. These floods bring with them a kind of mud called silt which settles on the banks and serves as fertilizer for the crops. But these overflows don’t just have their advantages, for their strength can sometimes destroy everything in their path. To counter this natural phenomenon, Menes, the first Pharaoh, initiated the oldest-known dam around 3000 BC to build his capital Memphis. It is supposed that this very resistant stone building measured 49 feet (15 meters) high by 1476 feet (450 meters) long. Others followed, but these constructions were not yet fully mastered, and around 2500 BC, one of them broke near Cairo. Following this catastrophe, the architects renounced the construction of others, for more than 1000 years! Hieroglyphics Appearing in Egypt around 3000 BC, hieroglyphics have covered the walls of pyramids, temples, tombs, and statues for several millennia. Contrary to our modern alphabet, this alphabet uses not letters but drawings of animals, people, objects, and plants called pictographs. Though painstakingly carved into stone, they are sometimes painted. Since school is not compulsory in Fertile Valley, learning to read and write is reserved for children from well-to-do families. These apprentices are trained to scratch hieroglyphics onto wooden slabs covered with plaster because papyrus paper, while it has been invented, is too expensive to be used by inexperienced pupils. Indeed, its manufacture with plant stems, crisscrossed then compressed, is long and complex. The size of one papyrus sheet rarely exceeds 20 inches (50 centimeters), but several of them can be assembled to form scrolls. The longest ever found is the Great Harris Papyrus, which measures at 134 feet (41 meters)! After their disappearance in favor of new scriptures around the time of Christ, hieroglyphics gave researchers a bit of trouble before the Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion finally deciphered them at the beginning of the 19th century through the famous Rosetta Stone. IRS (Intimidating Revenue Service) The levying of taxes by leaders is not a product of the 18th century!! Already, in Fertile Valley, part of the Pharaoh’s wealth comes from taxes. Since money hasn’t been invented yet, it’s not with money that peasants have to pay, but these peasants, which are not landowners in their own right but probably account for about 90% of the population, are to give up part of their harvest or some of their animals. There also exists what is called corvee, which consists of works of general interest during which the peasants are to help build pyramids or temples, maintain the dikes, or work on any other site the Pharaoh wants. The amount of tax to be paid is defined by scribes. Officials measure the fields and calculate the tax according to the area. The vizier, who is the Pharaoh’s right-hand man and, like him, leads a life of luxury, then watches the whole population pay their dues. Warning! Offenders will be subject to whipping and can even be enslaved! These taxes in kind then come back to the Pharaoh, and some foodstuffs are stored in granaries to constitute reserves in case of famine. But not everyone is treated in the same way. Soldiers and priests, for example, are tax-exempt. Famous Pharaohs *Khufu *Ramses II *Cleopatra Famous Artworks *Great Pyramid of Giza Category:Ancient Egypt Category:Civilizations Category:Time Periods